The most innovative tech startups in Australia in 2018

Australia is home to some well-established startups, some of which have taken the world by storm. These include 'unicorns' – companies that are worth more than $1 billion, like the REA Group ($8.7 billion), SEEK ($5.9 billion), and Carsales.com.au ($2.8 billion).

This has led to the establishment of government bodies like Startup Victoria, which are working to assist fintech startups challenge the world's best.

"Startups will know exactly where to find capital, meetups and accelerators and on the other hand, corporates will be able to easily find start-ups for collaboration opportunities," she said.

“Whether you’re an aspirational entrepreneur looking to make the jump or a founder looking to raise your series A – this is designed to make that next step a little easier.”

Here are some of the top startups in Australia in 2018 and their success stories.

Atlassian – the architect of Australia's Silicon Valley

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian recently announced that a new technology industry hub will be established in Sydney, which she said could be “Australia’s version of Silicon Valley”.

Global tech giant Atlassian will work directly with the government to establish this hub which will assist new tech startups. Atlassian is one of Australia's biggest tech startup success stories, founded by mates Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar who steered their software company to a $18 billion market cap.

The company offers software solutions and tools for other start-ups all the way up to major enterprises to assist in software development, project management, collaboration and code quality.

Now they will help teach startup ideas to other like-minded entrepreneurs in this new technology industry hub in Sydney.

Checkbox – simplifying complex regulations for business

Did you know there is a Startup World Cup? It was held in San Francisco in May 2018, and CEO Evan Wong represented Australia with his revolutionary fintech startup called Checkbox.

This platform provides a way for domain-experts to take complicated regulations like tax government regulations, and legal documents and assemble them in easy to navigate software, without the need for coding.

This delivers enormous efficiencies and value to businesses. The Checkbox platform has won numerous awards, including RegTech of the Year at the Australian Fintech Awards; the Westpac Innovation Challenge; the Next Money Fintech Finals and StartCon’s Pitch competition – which earned Wong his place at the Startup World Cup.

Checkbox has just closed its first funding round, raising $1.77 million from angel investors. Wong said that was just the beginning of what will be a big year for the startup.

"We’re investing in product development, the business architecture and the infrastructure of the team. That’s what’s going to set us up for the next stage, which is scaling," he said.

:Different – the property industry looks to mum and dad investors

Husband and wife duo Mina Radhakrishnan and Ruwin Perera worked at Google and Uber respectively, but saw an opportunity to return to Australia to launch their product, :Different.

They are looking to disrupt the rental property industry with an automated system for rental payments, leasing to tenants, maintenance requests and house inspections.

This paves the way for home-owners to break away from the major real estate companies and handle the rental management on their own.

The couple has already locked in $1.3 million seed round from both local and Silicon Valley investors and Perera said there was no better place to launch a tech startup like this than in Australia.

"Australia is one of richest countries in the world per capita, and there are 24 million affluent consumers willing to take a punt on new technology. Aussie consumers are some of the most willing to embrace new tech when it’s made available to them."

Liven –the world’s first digital currency for food powered by the blockchain

Liven is an incentive-based mobile payment platform and digital wallet purpose built for the lifestyle and dining industry. The free Android and iPhone app lets users discover restaurants to eat nearby, pay for their meal with one click, and earn rewards cash of 10 - 20 percent on each and every transaction. Basically you get rewarded for doing what we all love to do: eat!

Rewards systems have proven to be successful in retail, which is why Liven created this platform to give merchants and diners access to an app with the world’s first digital currency, called LivenCoin (LVN).

It is built on the same blockchain technology behind popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and provides a simplified platform that doesn't disrupt the dining experience. Customers can use the app at over 1000 participating venues in Sydney and Melbourne (8bit, Messina, Gong Cha, Nene Chicken, MadMex, etc.) and over 250,000 users have signed up for the platform already. When users purchase food and drink, they earn LVN, which can then be stored indefinitely, used at a partner merchant for your next purchase, traded, or even donated to charity.